Why the top-seeded Montreal Victoire picked Minnesota as its first-round playoff opponent

Stacey Innes, who lives in Spruce Grove, an Edmonton bedroom community, has struggled to find work since she lost her job at Walmart as an overnight shelf stocker. Although she’s since landed a construction job with the company her son works for, she was forced to rely on support from her son and seventy-three-year-old mother to get by between jobs. For her, separation is a no-brainer. A sovereign Alberta, she’s certain, will benefit people like her. When she looks at her paycheque, she sees all the taxes that are taken off. In an independent Alberta, she thinks she’d keep more of her...